Newcastle United boss John Carver has insisted that his side answered their critics during their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal this afternoon.

The Magpies coach was quick to praise his team's second-half showing against the Gunners, and hit back at Phil Neville over his claims that the Newcastle players "had their flip-flops on" during last weekend's defeat to Everton.

"People said we had our flip-flops on but if you saw our second-half performance that's not the case. I'll keep driving the players on. They want to keep working and keep having a go," BBC Sport quotes Carver as saying.

"The criticism was a bit surprising because it came from an ex-player, and they know what we have to go through, but we certainly weren't on the beach today."

The defeat leaves Newcastle in 12th place in the Premier League table with eight games remaining.